County road crews prepare for winter’s arrival

Sunday

Dec 23, 2012 at 1:00 PM

By Dennis PelhamDaily Telegram Staff Writer

ADRIAN — Warnings of the season’s first significant batch of snow and ice did not materialize Friday in Lenawee County. But road commission crews are ready to deal with winter weather whenever it arrives, said Jason Schnaidt, the county agency’s operations manager.

Road commission staff spent time Thursday making sure the truck fleet had plows and salt spreaders installed and working properly as the winter storm approached. Trucks were sent out only to the northwest area of the county Friday morning where blowing snow was making some intersections slippery, said Schnaidt.

All of the road commission’s salt storage barns are filled with the sand and salt mixture the agency uses, said managing director Scott Merillat. Additional sand was delivered in the last week to mix with salt, he said, and storage buildings are filled to capacity.

The policy for when to use the material and plow county roads was continued unchanged by the road commission board. It approved filling two vacancies this fall created by retirements to maintain a staffing level needed to continue the winter storm policy.

Schnaidt said crews will be called in as early as 4 a.m. if snow is piling up on roads.

The first routes to be plowed and salted are the most highly traveled roads in urban areas of the county. They are:

— Occidental Highway from M-52 near Adrian to Russell Road in Tecumseh.— Onsted Highway from U.S. 223 to U.S. 12.— Ridge Highway from Holloway Road to Monroe County.— Treat Highway, and Maumee and Beecher streets in the Adrian urban area.

Other roads are to be salted on hills and curves, at paved intersections, at railroad crossings and on bridge decks.

“We don’t have the same bare road, or wet road policy that the state has,” Schnaidt said. Drivers should be prepared to deal with some snow and slippery conditions on county roads through the winter season, he said.

The road commission tries to limit drivers to working no more than 12 straight hours during winter storms, he said. After 12 hours of plowing snow, he said, the road commission will leave one truck operating in each of the four quadrants of the county until a night crew with two trucks comes on duty to keep main roads open and respond to emergencies.

Drivers can help by giving snowplows plenty of room to operate, Schnaidt said. Plows have to cross the center line to clear roads and back up to widen intersections.Slowing down when roads become slick is also important.

“That’s always the problem with the first couple storms,” Merillat said. “You may be able to go fast, but you can’t stop.”

The Michigan Department of Transportation and the County Road Association of Michigan started an educational campaign in November to urge drivers to give snowplows extra room to operate safely.

“Road crews put their lives on the line every day to keep Michigan roads safe for everyone,” said State Transportation Director Kirk Steudle. "Motorists must remember to drive with caution no matter how much salt we use or how often the roads are plowed.”

MDOT began cutting back on plowing and salting several years ago. The current policy divides state highways into two “priority” levels. In Lenawee County, level 1 routes receiving the most attention are all of U.S. 223, U.S. 127 north of U.S. 223 and U.S. 12 east of U.S 127 to Ypsilanti.

Priority 2 routes are to have a bare strip maintained in the center of the road. Delays are possible in clearing the rest of the pavement and shoulders.

The city of Adrian is going into its second winter season with one less driver on its plowing crew. There are now five drivers on the regular crew. Their first priority is to maintain M-52, M-34 and business route U.S. 223 through the city. Major streets come next.

During significant storms, it may take several days to reach residential and side streets, according to the city’s snow policy.